Tag: Indigenous

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2027) Featured Review:Sisters in the Wind by Angelina Boulley

After the death of her father, Lucy Smith was thrust into the system and a series of foster homes that expose her to dangerous situations. Now, she’s on the run, until a mysterious man appears at her workplace and she’s soon after injured in a pipe bomb explosion. During recovery, Lucy learns that she is of Ojibwe descent and still has relatives living on the reservation, but before she can learn more about her family, she must face why she was on the run in the first place: someone wants her dead.

With a gripping story, wide appeal, and deep character development, this book is sure to be one of the top titles of the year.

Teens seeking Indigenous representation, mysteries and thrillers, and stories that explore self-identity will love this book.

Readers of Angeline Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter or any of her other novels, the anthology Legendary Frybread Drive-In, and K.A. Cobell’s Looking for Smoke will enjoy Sisters of the Wind.

–Amy Kilkenny

Learn More! Check Our Exclusive Interview with Angelina Boulley!

We sit down with Printz Honor and Winner Angeline Boulley to discuss novels as a teaching opportunity, exploring and celebrating identity through storytelling, and revisiting her wildly successful Sugar Island saga.

Be sure to like and follow the Hub on YouTube to stay up-to-date with our author interviews!

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2026) Featured Review: Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories Edited by Cynthia Letich Smith

At the legendary Frybread Drive-In, a magical place that appears when Native teens need it most, hearts are mended, first loves bloom, and grief finds a gentle place to rest. Teens navigating depression, family struggles, and the ups and downs of growing up discover comfort, guidance, and laughter from a cast of legendary grandparents, a welcoming community, and a serving of frybread. In this anthology of short stories by sixteen Native American authors, each story weaves traditions, heritage, and food from diverse North American Native nations. These interconnected tales celebrate resilience and self-discovery, leaving readers rooting for every character, laughing, crying, and savoring every bite of life along the way. 

With seven narrators, each teen’s voice comes alive, carrying listeners through joys, heartbreaks, and moments of discovery. The performances are full of warmth, humor, and heart, gently drawing listeners into Native traditions, culture, and heritage. By the end, listeners are left smiling, reflecting, and hoping the Legendary Frybread Drive-In might appear when they need it most.

For similar anthologies about being multicultural and coming of age, consider Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi, Transmogrify!: 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic edited by g. haron davis, or Home Has No Borders edited by Samira Ahmed and Sona Charaipotra. 

–Lisa Castellano

Check out the Hub’s Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith!

Check out the full blog here!

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2026) Featured Review: The Art Thieves by Andrea L. Rogers

In the year 2025 Stevie Henry is a Cherokee teen working at a museum in Texas the summer before she goes to college. She lives with her little brother and parents and has two best friends that also are ready to leave and move on with their lives and dreams. One day a new artist intern, Adam, is commissioned to work for the museum and catches Stevie’s eye and they grow closer until tragedy strikes. It is then that he reveals he is from the future and tasked with stealing art from the current time to use to heal and bring the world together in the future after the devastation of climate change comes to a head. Stevie must decide how much she is going to believe and whether her survival or her little brother’s is more important.

This title weaves current realistic fiction with an almost apocalyptic climate disaster, with a touch of time travel in such an interesting way. There are two parts to the book that break up this genre bending narrative, but Stevie’s voice is a strong one that also brings a lot of indigenous culture and history to the story throughout with a message of how the past and respecting nature and cultures just might save the future.

Teens that appreciate Indigenous representation of current and past issues, and climate fiction will enjoy this one. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline, A snake falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger, and If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude are all excellent readalike titles for The Art Thieves.

– Molly Dettmann

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: tinyurl.com/bfya2026

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2025) Featured Review: Bad Medicine by Christopher Twin

  • Bad Medicine
  • by Christopher Twin
  • Conundrum Press
  • Publication Date: October 24, 2023
  • ISBN-13: 9781772620870

One dark evening, a group of Cree teens sit around a campfire and tell scary stories… but as tales of spirits and skinwalkers unfold, are the true horrors closer to home? Influenced both by traditional Cree folklore and the more modern horrors of intergenerational trauma and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, these tales provide plenty of frights as well as insight into contemporary Indigenous life. 

Bad Medicine uses the traditional structure of trading frightening campfire tales to provide a fast-paced read that will satisfy horror-loving teens, while simultaneously offering a thoughtful examination of present-day Indigenous life. With its combination of folklore and contemporary issues, it presents a surface level story that is engaging and easy to recommend to reluctant readers, while simultaneously containing emotional and historical depths that will resonate with many teens and reward deeper consideration. The art maintains a consistent visual style throughout the different stories, and compellingly captures the spooky atmosphere of the tales. 

Teens who enjoy classic horror series like Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark? will be sure to enjoy the horror stories in Bad Medicine. Readers who enjoyed the traditional short stories from Indigenous creators in Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection may also enjoy the traditional Cree folklore-influenced tales in this title. Teens who enjoyed the short story format and were drawn to the more modern aspects of Indigenous life in Indiginerds: Tales from Modern Indigenous Life will find a similar, although spookier, format and themes here.

–Meg Bowie

Other Nominated Titles

May 28, 2024
March 19, 2024